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The last Boeing biplane fighter, the Model 236 single-seat shipboard fighter was designed around the 14-cylinder twin-row Pratt & Whitney R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior engine rated at 625hp at 1676m. Of all-metal construction with fabric-covered wings, the Model 236 was assigned the designation XF6B-1 by the US Navy and flew on 1 February 1933.

Armament was two 7.62mm guns and provision was made for a single 227kg bomb or two 52kg bombs, and on 21 March 1934, the prototype was assigned the new "bomber-fighter" designation of XBFB-1. The engine installation and undercarriage were refined during the test and evaluation programme, but no production was undertaken.